Saturday, 25 February 2012

I've been having the kind of week that you normally only see on movies. A chance to change something from their past which would completely alter my life. I've stuck with the decision I made so many years ago but it hasn't stopped my thoughts and emotions being turned upside down and inside out. Everything in my life that seemed fixed suddenly has other options and it's almost impossible not to think of all the possibilities that could have unfolded. My poor wee brain feels thoroughly fragmented as it churns over all the possible ways things could have gone.

What better day to send out one of my draft posts from last year of the Bloomberg Pavillion with it's multi-faceted structure. That's what my brain is like this week, a solid base with all manner of wildness spilling out the top and looking different depending on where you approach it and the time of day.

Thursday, 23 February 2012

I was originally directed towards the top photograph by Ulrika Kestere by someone saying she had a similar wardrobe to me. I thought they meant furniture wardrobe but clearly they meant likes to wear lots of different blues with a touch of red. The clothes are nice but it's the photo itself I like most. It is part of a series called "Girl with 7 horses" and she has made this one available to buy as a print here. You can see more of her photographs on her blog Ulicam. I liked the wintery one because I collect blue dresses and have long wanted to photograph them in snow, but it's always been too wet, too cold or too windy. She is tougher than I am.

I was looking at old photos this week and found one of me as a kid on the banks of the Mississippi River wearing blue with a touch of red (loved my bandanna) in 1984 when our parents bundled us all into a Camper Van and spent the Summer driving from LA to New York (having been living in LA 2yrs but returning to live in Scotland). I didn't realise I was doing non traditional hair buns in '84, I thought I didn't bun my hair until college in '89. Ulrika has an animated gif of braided hair that reminds me of why I put up with my really long but infuriatingly prone to tangling hair for so long. I loved playing with it, so many ways to express my mood. But when you have ME every bit of energy is precious and it's pointless wasting it on a daily battle with tuggy hair (you can see the tugs beginning to form a blur in centre of the bottom photo). Last January I chopped nearly all of it off and last month I did it again. But it's nice to find photo's of it long.

I've been really wiped out recently, partly the M.E. but also a bit of a cold that doesn't escalate, but refuses to leave. So what's a girl to do but immerse herself in Etsy. I looked at lots of things but these ones reflect today's colours, greys and pale blues with moments of brighter blue and yellow when the sun peaked through the cold February sky.

These remind me of the delight I felt the first time I saw an Andy Goldsworthy leaf sculpture at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. I've had a love for this type of work ever since and Susanna has a new take on them that I'm really enjoying.

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

The flowers are nearly finished on the Christmas Cactus, they always brings such a great splash of neon pink over Christmas and this year they were especially abundant (having been scant after major pruning 2yrs earlier).

Another intense pink that lasts all through winter is of course beetroot. All that colour hints at it's high beta carotene content. When eaten regularly it's liver cleansing abilities are ideal for those of you who had more than the occasional tipple during the party season. My usual Summer salad of beetroot, pear and feta got a seasonal boost with fresh cranberries. Also good for your liver and packed with phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Not that my liver has suffered in any way, I barely drink at all, but I do like to dribble Tawny Port onto things around Christmas time so I can pretend they are trifle so I'm sure my liver is happy to have a pink boost to help cleanse it. Hopefully by next year my Cranberry plant will have settled in enough to produce an edible harvest so I won't need to depend on shops at all.

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

After a pretty consistently mild and gale filled few months Winter, in the sense that we are used to it here in Scotland, has finally returned. The gales have stopped and even the strong winds have eased in the last week or two, such a relief. This week much of the country is blanketed in snow so it seemed fitting to post some snowy shots (from 2010), though the snow seems to have missed us here. Instead we are getting hard frosts every night so a lot of the plants, especially the supposed annuals, that had been unnaturally surviving the winter are starting to peg out. I was thrilled they lasted at all so losing them isn't too sad, and their winter longevity meant I was able to get an extra season of cuttings to replace the Summer cuttings that didn't all do well. It's good to get a proper run of cold as it keeps things like greenfly from getting out of control outside (let's not get into my neglectful plant care which has allowed them to flourish inside!).

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Me, M.E. and Gardening

I still have M.E/CFS so my walking life & most of my creative endeavours are on hold and even the garden has had to mostly look after itself since 2013 but previous years of good planning mean it does pretty well and the birds, bees, hedgehogs and other creatures here prefer a slightly unkempt space. I photograph it when I can in order to capture it's changing delights.